Qin's old master sat quietly on the large rock, then smiled. An old man's smile always seemed so gentle and calm, as if all intense emotions had long been shed, leaving only the peace of one who had seen through the ways of the world.

He was wearing a cotton-padded coat and draped in that overcoat, making him look somewhat bulky, but the old master's frame was exceptionally tall and sturdy, so it didn't seem cumbersome.

"Don't worry too much."

The old master stood with his hands behind his back, facing the snow-covered vegetable garden, slightly raising his head to look at the winter moon occasionally piercing through the night clouds with his somewhat cloudy eyes. A hint of long-unseen dominance appeared on his aged face.

Qin Heng only learned about the arrangement in the valley last night. While shocked, he wasn't entirely clear why his father would suddenly move against Fan Xian. As the heir to the Qin family, he rationally couldn't accept the family suddenly making such a difficult enemy for no reason. But...he didn't object.

Because he believed his father must have his reasons for making this arrangement. And he was a son, the son of a military family, accustomed to receiving his father's orders with a military attitude. In the Qin family, the old master was the marshal, and everyone else was a subordinate officer.

For orders, one could only accept, no explanation needed.

Qin Heng was also a smart man, and he naturally knew why his father wasn't worried after the valley affair failed… Fan Xian had too many enemies in court. It seemed that any faction could try to assassinate him before he returned to the capital, and the Qin family was the least likely of all those factions to make a move.

Even Qin Heng himself couldn't understand why his father wanted to kill Fan Xian, let alone those in the court responsible for the investigation.

Moreover, his family was the Qin family. Even if His Majesty suspected something in the end, without a shred of evidence, he couldn't simply accuse them.

……

……

"Of the five armies of my dynasty, the Qin family occupies one, and the Ye family occupies one." The old master said slowly, "If you were an emperor, would you allow this phenomenon?"

Qin Heng remained silent, looking down at the muddy ground before him.

The old master said softly, "But His Majesty will allow it, because His Majesty has ambition. He waited quietly for more than ten years, just to wait for that bald man in the north, that idiot in the east to die...or grow old. So he allows our Qin and Ye families to preserve ourselves for the time being, because in the future, when we go to conquer the world, we always need soldiers to charge and kill."

The old master said with a smile, "Your father was also known as a famous general of his time, but now he is too old. And the current famous generals naturally include Shang Shanhu of Northern Qi as the head, and our Great Qing has His Highness the Crown Prince and Xiao Yi. Although Ye Zhong is much younger than me, he has long lost his fierceness after being responsible for the Kyoto garrison for many years. But no one has ever thought that…the most powerful commander in the world is not anyone else, but in fact, it is His Majesty."

Qin Heng remained silent, but he was very sure of this statement in his heart. He was also a soldier. Like all soldiers in Qing Kingdom, he had an awe and admiration for the Emperor, who had been living deep in the palace. Although His Majesty had not led troops for more than ten years, history had already proven that the three northern expeditions had scattered the vast Wei Dynasty across the continent. Although he had not unified the world, the four words "using troops like a god" could indeed be used on His Majesty.

"The Ye family has been able to survive to this day…" The old master slowly closed his eyes, "Because of that old thing, Ye Liuyun. And although our Qin family doesn't have Ye Liuyun, we can still survive to this day. Why?"

Qin Heng lowered his head and said, "Because Father is here."

This was an extremely sincere compliment. The old master Qin was silent for a while and did not object to this statement. His students and old friends were all over the court and the army. If Ye Liuyun was preserving a path for the Ye family with his peerless martial arts, then the Qin family was living happily in Qing Kingdom under his shelter.

All of this came from himself, so he had to live. Although he was so old and often sick, he still had to live.

"I am loyal to His Majesty…loyal to Qing Kingdom." Old Master Qin said slowly, "I have never done anything to betray His Majesty, so His Majesty will definitely not betray me."

Qin Heng's heart skipped a beat, thinking that the assassination of the Imperial Envoy Fan Xian in the valley today… that was His Majesty's illegitimate son. Didn't that count as betraying His Majesty? But he absolutely dared not ask that question.

Old Master Qin looked straight ahead, a domineering aura cultivated in the military for fifty years emerging spontaneously: "You don't understand why your father chose to act at this time, and I don't want to tell you about the things of the past. I just want to teach you what the timing to strike is."

……

……

"Strike when no one expects you to strike." Old Master Qin turned his head to look at his son, "Strike when everyone might strike."

"The water is already muddy enough, we don't care about adding us. No one knows what's under the muddy water, so we will be safe."

"Although His Majesty is unparalleled and wise, he is, after all, deep in the palace, and unable to obtain first-hand information about many things." Old Master Qin said calmly, "Now in this world, the only two people who can guess or know that I am related to the valley affair are those two."

"And what's amazing is that neither of these two will tell His Majesty."

"So although this operation failed, as long as it's not brought out into the open, it is in itself a success."

Qin Heng endured for a long time, and finally couldn't help but ask in a low voice: "Why won't those two tell His Majesty?"

"Because the old cripple has been silent from the beginning." A hint of sarcasm appeared on the corner of Old Master Qin's lips, "No matter why he is silent, this assassination in the valley has the cooperation of their Supervisory Council. If he reveals this now, how will he explain himself to His Majesty?"

Qin Heng understood, but he still didn't understand why the Dean Chen would be silent. Did he… also want Fan Xian to die? This didn't make sense at all. After a moment of silence, he said, "But… if the Dean were to find the person we buried inside, wouldn't he be able to present his guess to His Majesty?"

"Guess." The old master said coldly, "You also know that this is just a guess. Why should His Majesty believe his guess? What's more, that person is not so easy to find."

"What about the other person?"

A touch of rosiness appeared on Old Master Qin's aging face, as if the long absence from the struggle had made him younger. He chuckled and mocked, "In the court under His Majesty's rule, the only ones I have been wary of are the former Prime Minister Lin and Dean Chen. Prime Minister Lin was forced to resign by His Majesty, and Chen Pingping has other thoughts… As for the Princess."

The old master said with a hint of sarcasm, "If the Princess wants to stir up trouble, my old Qin family will have problems. Can Yan Xiaoyi stay out of it?"

Qin Heng raised his head in astonishment. He only learned last night that Yan Xiaoyi's son was hiding under his command. And judging from his father's expression, he naturally understood that Yan Xiaoyi's son had launched a night attack on Fan Xian before the valley, and then dragged Fan Xian and his party into the valley. This was actually arranged by the old master!

Thinking of this, a trace of awe arose in his heart for his father. The old master had not been involved in matters for many years, but once he took action, he was indeed powerful.

"My Qin family has always stood on His Majesty's side, maintaining neutrality in court affairs." Old Master Qin said indifferently, "Now both sides are dragging us down, then let them drag us down. Naturally, I will also drag them down. Let's hold each other together and see how we will go in the future."

The old master sighed.

But Qin Heng was thinking in his heart that these big figures in the court and the military all had their own thoughts. If they really wanted to stick together, then… wouldn't His Majesty become isolated?

"What did you see in front of the Privy Council today?"

Although the old master had already learned about the situation at that time from his own intelligence system, he still wanted to hear it from his son's mouth. Qin Heng described the situation at that time, focusing on Fan Xian's expression and that bloody person who was in terrible shape...

The bloody person was the only survivor left in the valley, with both arms broken, one eye blind, seriously injured, and on the verge of death but unable to die.

"That is a hero of my army, he cannot be insulted by the Supervisory Council."

The old master said coldly.

Qin Heng knew that the group of people responsible for the assassination in the valley were private soldiers secretly trained by his family in the Xiaoshan Chong, which could not be found on the military roster. So even if Fan Xian beheaded those two hundred people, the Qin family did not need to worry about anything. He hesitated and said, "That general is a man of iron will..."

What he meant was, since that person would not betray the Qin family, why risk exposing the internal line to silence him?

"The people in my army can only live standing, not kneeling." The old master said faintly, "Being able to let him die gloriously is the only compensation your father can do at this time."

Qin Heng was silent. A piece of winter moon sprinkled silver light, reflecting with the snow in the Qin residence, shining a faint glow.

The old master coughed twice and walked towards the inner house, saying to his son for the last time, "In the future, be quicker in making decisions and be more prepared."

Qin Heng lowered his head, knowing that his father was talking about the end of the valley assassination today. He led the cavalry of the garrison division into the valley, but was restrained by Fan Xian's careful backhand arrangement, and was unable to carry out the final adventurous attempt. He laughed self-deprecatingly and thought to himself, what could he do when he encountered a smart, cunning person like Fan Xian who didn't trust anyone?

——————————————————————

The next morning, at the back door of Jing Chengzi's residence, as usual every morning, a man delivering vegetables came. The man respectfully moved the vegetables in, smelled the air in the mansion, and did not dare to say anything. He talked to the steward in the mansion with a smile, and quickly withdrew.

Walking from the alley to the main street, the vegetable delivery man looked up at the black plaque of Jing Chengzi's residence, rubbed his nose, and thought to himself that Lord Yan's family was too low-key. The neighbors all knew that this house was given to Lord Yan by His Majesty. Now that the Lord has already been promoted to the third-class Earl, and even the Little Lord Yan has a title, but this plaque has never been changed.

The vegetable delivery man left, and the vegetable basket was still placed alone in the open space next to the kitchen of Yan's residence.

The steward looked around and saw that there was no one around, so he naturally reached out and picked up the vegetable basket, seemingly wanting to see how the weight was today, and whether the vegetable delivery man had cut corners.

The weight was very sufficient. The steward smiled with satisfaction, and put his hands into the pockets of his cotton coat to avoid being frozen by the cold wind in this winter day. However, no one noticed that he had taken a bamboo splint from the top of the vegetable basket.

Arriving at the study, Yan Ruohai, who had retired as the director of the Fourth Bureau, had gotten up early as usual every day in the past years, finished washing, and was copying a quiet essay.

The steward respectfully offered tea, and then intentionally or unintentionally placed the short bamboo splint next to the teacup.

Yan Ruohai picked up the bamboo splint, frowned, and slightly exerted force to break it in the middle, took out a small white cloth strip, and then fell into contemplation looking at the handwriting on it.

His finger tapped the table, tapping for a long time, as if he was lost in thought.

After a long time, the current director of the Fourth Bureau, the future Supervisory Council Deputy Chen Pingping successor, Little Lord Yan, Yan Bingyun, pushed open the door of the study and walked in, then turned back and closed the door gently.

He sat opposite his father, took the white cloth strip, and looked at the content on it. His eyebrows, which were always as cold as frost branches, could not help but frown.

……

……

"That survivor... the Privy Council didn't dare to take over at all. The two sides fought a lawsuit for a long time, knowing that it was too hot to handle. No one dared to put it in their yamen, just fearing that this person would suddenly die, and Deputy Chen Pingping would go crazy."

Yan Bingyun said worriedly, "Even if I can think of a way to kill that person to silence him, what if… Lord Fan knows about it?"

Yan Ruohai sighed and said, "Since the old master has come to the door, this matter must always be done."

Yan Bingyun looked at his father and sighed, "If... in the future Deputy Chen Pingping knows about the assassination outside the valley... We clearly knew about it beforehand, but we didn't care, will he tear down our house and chop us father and son up?"

Yan Ruohai was stunned, looked at his son, and sighed again, his sigh full of helplessness, and said, "What can we do? We can't not do what Dean Chen ordered us to do. If Lord Fan wants to kill us... we can only suggest that he dismantle that wheelchair first."

A trace of annoyance could not help but appear on Yan Bingyun's always indifferent face. After a long while, he said, "When did Father go from the military to the Supervisory Council?"

"It's been thirty years." Yan Ruohai frowned, thinking about the past, "Although I was not famous in the military, I was secretly Old Master Qin's personal guard. I was just buried in the camp and never played any role."

Yan Bingyun shook his head and sighed, "No wonder the old master trusts you so much. But Father has been in the Supervisory Council to this day, and the old master must be very proud of his arrangement back then."

Yan Ruohai sighed for the third time, with a smile on his face that was not a smile, and said, "But the problem is… I was already a Supervisory Council spy before I joined the army. It can only be said… Old Master Qin's luck was not very good."

Yan Bingyun lowered his head and said, "Dean Chen indeed has everything under control, and calculates without error. I just don't understand, why let these things happen when they can be prevented?"

……

……

In the Chen Garden outside Kyoto, Chen Pingping sat in a wheelchair and yawned, saying to Fei Jie, who was full of anger, "Why are you so anxious? You want to kill me in the early morning? He is your most beloved disciple, isn't he my most beloved successor?"

The ghostly fire in Fei Jie's eyes was burning, and he said coldly, "What exactly do you want to do? Fan Xian almost died!"

Chen Pingping muttered a few words, and said in that very distinctive, slightly sharp voice, "Why? Of course, it's for this fact, this established fact... Everyone says I am His Majesty's dog, but in fact, that old man is His Majesty's biggest loyal dog... How can the dog owner be willing to beat the dog without a little real blood gushing out?"

Chen Pingping clapped his hands and licked his slightly dry lips and said, "And I have always been very curious, I have driven His Majesty's dogs into the yard to bark randomly, what can His Majesty do if he becomes isolated?"